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Thursday, July 31, 2014

If
one strives for intellectual honesty it is nearly impossible to reconcile some
of the passages in the Bible with the infantile, self-obsessed doctrines men
have been manufacturing as of late. With each passing year it seems the focus
on the self becomes all the more laser like, while the focus on Jesus is almost
nonexistent. Jesus has become optional for many professing believers. He has
become something to be taken or left depending upon the mood they happen to be
in that day, or whether or not Jesus convicted the particular sin they are
about to partake of.

Because
those who would speak truth are as a thorn in the side of the duplicitous and
compromised, theirs is not a ‘live and let live’ mentality, but rather, ‘believe
as I believe or else!’ When you politely tell them that you cannot believe as
they believe because what they believe is not scripturally sound, you will
inevitably be called judgmental, told the take the beam out of your own eye, be
accused of legalism and branded as one who believes in works, or that works are
a natural part of the believer’s journey.

As
spoiled petulant children the world over, we’ve come to expect, and feel as
though we are entitled to receiving everything on a silver plate, on our terms,
and without having to ever sacrifice an iota of anything.

‘Heaven’s all
good as long as it doesn’t cut into the time I’ve allotted for other important
things in my life like television watching or video games. Make it easy, make
it pain free, make it my way right away, then perhaps I’ll sign up.’

And
so, we did. We saw the potential of millions of tithers if only we would lower
the bar to the point of nonexistence, and we jumped at the chance to achieve
genius level salaries with less than average intelligence. The race was on.
Every time you turned on ‘Christian’ television, the bar kept getting lower,
the entry fee kept getting lessened, and pretty soon, it wasn’t ‘repent, turn
to God, break ties with your sins and serve Him with all your heart mind and
soul’, it was ‘make a vow of a thousand dollars today, and if it helps you can
pay it off in installments.’

For
long and long business was good for these charlatans, because men will go to
great lengths to appease their burdened consciences, and giving a few bucks now
and again seemed like a downright bargain. For long and long those whose
convictions would not let them go along with the nonsense were browbeaten,
shunned, ostracized, and made to feel as though there was something wrong with
them for striving to serve Jesus biblically.

Satan
laughed, the world snickered, and men who would have otherwise had difficulty
getting a job as a toll booth operator became multi-millionaires and niche
superstars. The devil knows that once you get accustomed to a certain
lifestyle, once you get accustomed to the finer things in life it’s hard to
give them up, to walk away, to denounce them as the trifle tidbits they are.
And so, our esteemed preachers began defending their wealth rather than defending
Jesus, they began defending their extravagant lifestyles rather than the faith,
and since the beast needs to get fed, and the personal kingdoms built up, they
continued shoveling their nonsense with greater fervor than ever before.

We
read the words of Peter, and they sound nothing like the words being preached
by most preachers today. It’s almost astounding that Peter never talked about
prosperity, or self-esteem, or having your cake and eating it too. He never
mentioned great wealth, but rather various trials, never mentioned prosperity,
but rather having the genuineness of our faith tested. In the end, it turns out
the end of our faith isn’t to get rich, it’s not to have stuff, but to receive
the salvation of our souls.

1 Peter 1:8-9, “Though
now you do not see Him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and
full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.”

‘But there’s got
to be more. We have to offer people something more than just eternity with God.
We have to promise them something here on earth, there has to be a catch, a
hook, something to get their flesh excited.’

No,
there doesn’t have to be anything more! No we don’t have to offer people
something more than salvation! There doesn’t have to be a hook, and anyone who understands
the temporality of this present existence and the eternity of the existence to
come will come to see these truths as well.

Monday, July 28, 2014

It
is quite possible that a trial which might serve to make you stronger and more
dependent upon God would fell me to the ground with minimal effort. The reason
our trials vary is because we as human beings vary. In His love and all-knowing
wisdom God does not send the same trials over one and all, because the purpose
of the trials He allows in our lives is not to tear us down but to build us up.
Trials come upon us to make us stronger, to teach us dependence upon God, and
to show us that we can overcome through He who promised us victory.

God
knows every single one of us intimately. He knows what we can endure, He knows
how much heat we can take, and He brings us to that point wherein we are
refined, tested, and purified, but not destroyed, broken or disillusioned.

God
does not give us trials equal to our strength or ability to overcome them, He
gives us strength and ability to overcome equal to the trials we are facing.

To
some God gives strength to overcome financial trials, others He gives strength overcome
physical trials, others He gives strength to overcome family trials, trials on
the job, traitorous friends, and the list goes on. Whatever trial we are
facing, we must acknowledge the strength to overcome comes from above. Our
strength comes from God, not of ourselves, and so when we do overcome, when
finally we’ve come through the valley and out the other side, we cannot glory
in our own strength but rather glory in His strength.

Another
universal truth concerning trials is that they are passing. ‘For a little while’ we are grieved by various
trials, but just as the sun rises every morning and sets every evening, our
trials will pass eventually. Granted, when you are in the midst of a trial it
seems as though no end is in sight, and each minute seems like an eternity, but
the nature of trials is that they come and that they go. Yes, new ones will
come, but those too will pass, and every trial becomes a memory sooner or
later. With each trial, with each hardship, with each testing we will be all
the more refined, all the more mature, all the more rooted in our God and
Father and that is God’s intent in allowing these things to come upon us.

Another
great benefit of the various trials we are called upon to endure, is that what
we thought of as insurmountable as little as a year, or a few months ago, now
seems easily scalable, and beatable. Looking back on the trials we’ve had to
endure, looking back on the trials we’ve had to get through, we realize that
they seemed much bigger as we were going through them than they were in
reality.

At
the time we could not see our way out, at the time we could not see how we
would be victorious, at the time we could not see how we would endure to the
end, yet we did, and when the next trial comes, when the next tribulation
begins, we will remember the previous trial and realize we will get through
these as well.

When
our faith is small, our trials seem to be on par and of the same scale. When
our faith grows and matures, out trials likewise seem to grow, because they
have to keep abreast of our faith, or our faith needs to keep abreast of our
trials. Either way, live with the expectation of an increase in the intensity
of your trials as you mature and grow in God.

I
must confess I used to be one who did not welcome the notion of trials in my
life. That is until the day I had an epiphany of sorts and realized that the
greater the trial, the greater God’s trust that you will not break beneath the
weight of said trial. When I realized that my trials are God’s way of
entrusting me with more of His grace, when I realized that my trials were God’s
way of telling me He sees the growth and the maturing, I began to welcome my
trials knowing their good end.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

For
the true believer it is peace and tranquility that are fleeting not trials and
persecution. I know full well in a nation such as this, wherein the notion of
suffering for the cause of Christ is as alien as molecular biology is to a
kitten, it’s difficult to wrap our minds around the notion that hardships,
trials, and tribulations for the believer are inevitable, and a normal part of
their existence.

‘In the world
you will have trouble!’ These were the words of Jesus, and their brevity is
astounding. He did not attempt to soften the blow, or encourage those who heard
Him by adding caveats, or saying that only a handful will have trouble, He
meant what He said when He said it, and it holds true to this day.

If
we are sons and daughters of the Most High God, if we follow after the precepts
of His word, if He is first in our lives and His will is our command, then
trouble for us is inevitable. The reason for this is a simple one: the sons and
daughters of light will always be at odds with the sons and daughters of
darkness, and as long as we are here, we are a thorn in the enemy’s side that
he will go to great lengths to remove.

Although
no one got a waiver or an exemption from having trouble in this world, Jesus
did tell us to take heart, not because we might not have as much trouble as
some do, or because it would be an easy proposition for us to endure, but
because He overcame the world. Because He overcame the world, we know that by
His strength we too will overcome. No matter the trouble, no matter the
hardship, we know that with Christ, in Christ, and through Christ we will
overcome, and be all the stronger and spiritually mature for it.

We
all envy the relationships the great men of God had with Him, wherein He would
speak to them audibly, direct them, guide them, and open their eyes to the
spiritual realm, but very few of us would be willing to endure, to suffer, and
to go through some of the trials they went through in order to achieve such a
remarkable relationship.

We
want the experience with God, but very few are willing to pay the price in
order to have the experience.

Nothing
worth having comes easily, and nothing worth having comes for free. This is the
reality anyone who has been alive longer than a handful of years has come to
understand as a universal truth.

One
must be willing to pay the price in order to attain the sort of relationship
one such as Moses, or Elijah, or Jeremiah had with God. If we think that
somehow God has lowered the bar, or the testing through which one who aspires
to closeness with God must go through has become less strict over the centuries,
we are deceiving ourselves to the utmost.

There
is not one man of God whether in the Bible or in our modern day who having a
deep and intimate relationship with Him, has not, first and foremost, gone
through the threshing and the sifting. In His love God refines us, in His love God
purifies us, in His love God burns away every last remnant of dross and flesh
and self that He may reign supreme.

Not
everyone goes through the same trial. Trials take on various forms, hence the
reason Peter encourages those to whom he was writing, telling them that though
now they go through ‘various trials’
they ought not lose heart, nor lose sight of the reason for the trials through
which they are going.

The
trials I’m going through may not be similar to the trials you’re going through,
and the trials you are going through may not be similar to the trials someone
else is going through, but they are, nevertheless trials.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

1 Peter 1:6-9, “In
this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have
been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much
more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be
found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom
having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you
rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your
faith – the salvation of your souls.”

From
this handful of verses we come to realize that Peter is writing to believers
who had not physically seen Jesus while He was among them. They had not heard
Him preach, they had not sat at His feet moved by His teaching, and Peter is
acknowledging this beautiful faith of theirs, telling them that though they had
not seen the Christ, they loved Him nevertheless.

If
we think about it in practical terms, it must have been easier for one such as
Peter to believe, and love, and follow after Christ, than it would have been
for one such as Paul who never met Him, except on the road to Damascus, nor
heard Him preach or teach.

It
is far easier to draw conclusions and make up your mind about someone with whom
you are often in contact, whom you see on a daily basis, and are able to watch
closely. It is far more difficult to believe and love someone whom you have
never met, whose only frame of reference regarding their person is the
teachings they left behind and the testimonies of the disciples He sent into
the world.

Nevertheless,
these individuals to whom Peter was writing loved Jesus though they had not
seen Him. They believed in Jesus though they had not seen Him, and even
rejoiced with joy inexpressible and full of glory though they had not seen Him.

It
wasn’t as though these individuals had run down to the local bookstore and
bought themselves a Bible, or the sermon anthology of the Christ. At best, they
heard via word of mouth about the One who had conquered death, the One who had
come to save those who would believe on Him, the One who by His sacrifice
reconciled us unto the Father, and they believed.

I’ve
run across individuals throughout my life who say that if only they could see
Jesus, they would believe. Others, in need of less convincing only wanted to
see an angel, or witness a miracle, and then they too would believe.

We
see here that these individuals to whom Peter was writing had neither seen
Jesus, nor had they seen angels, nor had they witnessed the sea part, yet they
believed and rejoiced.

Men
today are phenomenal at making excuses. Ask them why they will not believe, and
chances are better than good that what you will hear coming out of their mouth will
be an excuse. Whether it’s because their parents left a bad taste for religion
in their mouth, or because they feel as though they’re spiritual enough without
having to pick a team, or because they believe all paths lead to the same destination,
men excuse their unwillingness to bow their knee at the foot of the cross of
Christ in various fashion but with the same underlying reasons.

They
love their sin, and are unwilling to part with it. They love the world and the
things of the world, and because they are encouraged to continue in their
lukewarm condition by leaders who ought to know better, they take no steps
toward believing as those to whom Peter wrote had.

Another
thing which leaps from the page as we read these verses is that Peter is either
heavily generalizing when writing to these believers, or all of them, to the
last, had been grieved by various trials.

He
did not say ‘though now for a little while some of you have been grieved by
various trials’, nor did he say ‘most of you’, but simply, you!

To
those who believe they have a special dispensation to bypass trials and
hardships, I would urge you to read, and reread this handful of verses in 1
Peter. To those who believe that because you belong to a certain denomination,
or are the citizen of a certain nation trials and tribulations will avoid you,
I would urge you to think again, and prepare your heart for the inevitable.

Monday, July 21, 2014

1 Peter 1:5, “Who
are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time.”

There
is a marked difference between being kept and being spared. Though many today
hope against hope that there was a misprint in the Bible, or that the
translation from the original Greek got a little wonky along the way, nowhere
in the Book does it say we will be spared trials, afflictions or tribulations,
but rather that we will be kept through them by the power of God, through faith
for salvation.

I
realize full well that many believers today feel as though they are entitled to
be spared trials and tribulations. They feel as though they are deserving to
not be called upon to endure hardships or afflictions, but oddly enough this
sort of believer is mostly clustered in western nations, who have, as yet, not
had to endure for the cause of Christ, or suffer what so many throughout the
world are currently suffering today.

There
seems to be a total disconnect between what other Christians are going through
in many other nations on the globe, and what we feel we are entitled to or
believe salvation, reconciliation, and redemption to be.

We
have redefined salvation over and over again until all it means for many people
today is God giving us stuff, making us rich, improving our self-esteem and
giving us our dream spouse. Never mind the fact that none of these things were
either implied or inferred in the Bible, nor were they promised by Jesus in any
way. Never mind the fact that all our expectations seem to be geared toward the
earthly, the banal, the temporal and the meaningless; it’s all good as long as
we can find a way to spiritualize greed and covetousness.

It
is because of the false view and understanding many have concerning salvation
and the promises of God that I believe the soon coming falling away will be
shattering even to those now considered pessimists and doomsayers.

When
we look at what much of the church is expecting of God – because the leaders
are teaching them over and over again that these are the things they ought to
expect – we can see a perfect storm brewing, wherein a great majority of today’s
professing Christians will feel as though God failed them, abandoned them, and
left them to suffer needlessly. They will not blame the men they followed, and they
will not look to the Word to see that what they believed was a lie. They will
simply shake their fists at God as Israel of old, deranged by their anger and
bitterness toward Him.

Understanding
the difference between being kept and being spared is necessary in order to be
in the right frame of mind so that one might endure to the end. If I perceive
my trials and tribulations as God’s means of refining me and proving the genuineness
of my faith, then I will suffer joyfully towards this end. If, however, I
perceive my trials and tribulations as something I ought to have been spared
from, as something I was promised I would be spared from, then I will
inevitably grow bitter and disillusioned while going through them, doing my
utmost to spare myself and avoid said trials altogether.

Peter
was not a novice when it came to trials, or the notion of being kept through
them rather than being spared from them. It was to Peter that Jesus said, ‘Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you
as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail.’

Why
not pray for him that he might be spared the sifting? Why not pray for him that
he might be able to avoid the trial altogether? Why just pray that his faith
should not fail? Because the genuineness of our faith must be tested, that it
may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

What
keeps us is not ourselves, it is not our own strength, it is not our own
tolerance for hardship or pain, but rather the power of God, through faith, for
salvation.

We
are kept by the power of God, and knowing that the power of God is supreme
above all powers, we rest in the knowledge that He will carry us through, being
ever faithful and true.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Of
all the things men undervalue and underestimate in their lives, the sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus, what it all entails, and what it means for us as individuals
is perhaps the most undervalued and underestimated.

We
see something truly wondrous as something ordinary, because rather than
highlight the glory of Jesus and what He did for us on the cross, men would
rather seek the limelight for themselves, or promote their chosen denomination.
It’s all about Jesus only insofar as the lies we sing, but when it comes down
to it, our own self-interests and misguided pride will always win out to the
detriment of Christ, His words, and His will if we have a personal agenda or
some vested interest.

Given
that those of our present generation have become so averse to deep thought that
between choosing to spend fifteen minutes alone or physically hurting themselves
they would choose the latter, it’s no wonder prefab doctrine, and prefab
theology are so popular nowadays.

Although
it sounds like I’m making that up, it’s actually the result of a study that was
conducted recently. So, basically, men would rather endure physical pain than
endure the pain of deep thought, or being alone by themselves, thinking about
something more profound than who is going to win the singing competition on
television, or when the newest video game is set to hit the market.

Thankfully,
and I mean ‘thankfully’ in the most
sarcastic way possible, the modern day church saw the opportunity, and since
demand for nonsensical pabulum and extra biblical rhetoric was high, it decided
to provide the supply with fervor and gusto. No thought needed, no intellectual
curiosity, no deeper introspection of what redemption and the sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus truly mean, just raise a hand, say a prayer, give some money,
and when you get to the pearly gates you get a pat on the head, a cookie, some
warm milk, and as an added bonus you get waved right on through.

We
use terms like ‘blood bought’ without understanding what it all means, or
without seriously contemplating the fact that the only begotten Son of God hung
on a cross beneath the blazing sun, bleeding and thirsting and feeling the
agony of being nailed to a piece of wood, but also the agony of all our sins,
and our trespasses.

The
Son of God gave His life that we might have life, and we were sprinkled with
the blood of Jesus, washed and made new, wholly beholden to Him, having no
other recourse but to surrender our lives as He gave up His.

If
we allowed this singular truth to permeate to the innermost parts of our
hearts, if we allowed it to take root and blossom, we would no longer be
looking for excuses and justifications for our sins, or ways around repentance.
We would no longer be spending our time trying to justify compromise and faithlessness,
but rather pursue the things of God with the abandon they ought to be pursued
with.

Are
we living the reality of having been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus? This is
the single most important question the church ought to be asking itself today.
Not whether or not we are being seen in a flattering light by the world, not
whether or not we are being embraced by the godless, not whether or not our
denomination agrees with our position, but whether or not we are living the
reality of having been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus.

If
we are living this reality, then our lives will show it, our ministries will
show it, and contrary to popular belief, we will also be more effective for the
cause of Christ. Passion is contagious, and once men see that you have been set
free indeed, they will be drawn to the reality that you are living, and desire
to know more about it.

I
think we’ve spent enough time seeing the results of the watered down gospel to
conclude that it does not work. We’ve spent enough time seeing seminaries
churning out agnostics, and men who doubt the reality of Jesus and who He is,
to realize that trying to make the true Gospel more palatable has robbed it of
its ability to stop an individual in their tracks and compel them to choose
between light and darkness.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Individuals
not wholly sold out to God have a difficult time understanding the notion of
giving God free reign of their hearts. To such individuals it is perfectly
reasonable, and even generous on their part to offer God half, three quarters,
or even 80% of their hearts, reserving a piece, a slice, a little alcove for
themselves, for their predilections, proclivities, or passions.

Because
these individuals do not understand that serving God is an all or nothing
proposition, they find ways of excusing sin in their lives, they find ways of
excusing compromise in their lives, and they find ways of excusing duplicity in
their lives.

The
prism through which men perceive service toward God determines whether or not
they will dedicate their all to Him, or feel as though they are doing Him a
favor if they acknowledge Him from time to time, as long as He doesn’t
inconvenience them too terribly.

I’ve
said this before, but it bears mentioning it again, God is not interested
having roommates. God is not interested in sharing the space of your heart with
anything else that isn’t Him, and because He is God, He can do that. It is
God’s prerogative to demand exclusivity to your heart. It is God’s prerogative
to expect that once you invite Him to move in, every other tenant must move
out.

Anything
less than that, anything less than God being solitary on the throne of your
heart is self-delusion, and self-deception.

Man,
in his hubris, has been trying to put God in a box since the beginning of
creation. No matter how hard we try, no matter how many mental aerobics and
theological machinations we seem to put ourselves through, we never quite
succeed, and God remains God, His nature remains ever the same, and those who
boldly claim that God has changed and now embraces the darkness as though it
were light are proven fools and liars eventually .

What
does this have to do with Peter’s first epistle? Well, everything. Peter was
attempting to prepare the household of faith for what was about to come upon
it. I believe wholeheartedly that Peter receive revelation of what was to
transpire, of the hardships and trials the church would have to go through, and
inspired of the Holy Spirit, Peter writes to the church and tells them that
without being sanctified, without giving God free reign of one’s heart, we have
no hope of enduring to the end, and overcoming as we ought.

How
can today’s church hope to endure hardship, trials, tribulations, persecution
and even martyrdom if we are unwilling or unable to do away with the sins,
vices, and predilections we hold close to our bosom?

I
realize the following will come across like a lead balloon, but if you can’t
break ties with your sin, if you can’t break ties with your addiction, if you
can’t break ties with your lust, you will never have the strength and
wherewithal to stand for the name Jesus in the face of certain death.

If
we can’t live for Christ, we will never be willing to die for Him.

As
the old adage so aptly puts it, ‘dying is easy…it’s the living that’s hard.’

It
is only when we’ve surrendered our all, when there is nothing left to give,
nothing left to surrender, nothing left to lay on the altar, that we can, with
certainty, declare our unshakeable faithfulness to He who was faithful, no
matter what the future might hold. If there are still things we are holding
onto, if there are still vices, if there are still unconfessed sins, if there
is still pride, then when we say we surrender all to Jesus, we’re lying to
ourselves as well as those around us.

It’s
the sins you keep close to your chest that will kill you, not the ones you’ve
surrendered and laid down at the foot of the cross.

God
must reign in our hearts unimpeded. He must reign in our hearts unrestrained.
He must reign in our hearts unfettered, and He will accept nothing less, no
matter how much we might like Him to.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Man
cannot sanctify himself. I cannot sanctify you, you cannot sanctify me, and the
guy with the hair helmet on television cannot sanctify himself let alone anyone
else. It is the Holy Spirit that sanctifies, it is the Holy Spirit that
consecrates, and it is a divine work from beginning to end.

What
becomes of one who is sanctified? What becomes of one who is consecrated? Can
they return to being what they once were before being sanctified? Did Matthew
return to tax collecting once he was consecrated and sanctified unto the Lord?
Was it just one of those experiences you look back on with fondness but without
any true and meaningful change?

Is
true sanctification like the ‘getting saved’ experiences so many are having
today where they walk the isle, raise their hand, say the sinner’s prayer and
return to the life they’d lived thus far without batting an eye?

Ask
them, and they’ll tell you they’re saved, even though their lives do not mirror
salvation, even though sin still has them bound, and even though they had not
stepped into another house of worship since the encounter.

When
one is sanctified and consecrated they are removed from their current spiritual
reality and translated into a new spiritual reality. They cannot, by the very
nature of what just occurred in them, remain the same, think the same, act the
same, or have the same proclivities and passions as before.

We
are sanctified by God via the Holy Spirit, unto God. We are not sanctified unto
ourselves; we are not sanctified unto our denominations. We are sanctified unto
God and are accountable to Him from that day forward.

Oddly
enough, only Peter tried to return to his previous life once he was sanctified,
and we all know how that worked out. Why couldn’t he just go back to being a
fisherman? Why couldn’t he just go back to his wife and mother in law and live
out his days? Because the One who sanctified him called to him, compelling him
to do his duty and forsake all in order to obtain all.

The
sanctified individual inevitably comes to that place in his existence wherein
his singular desire is for the will of God to be made manifest in his life.
Nothing more, nothing less, just the will of God made manifest, whatever that
will might be.

The
sanctified individual has no agenda, no aspirations, no dreams of hitting it
big and getting to rub elbows with some talk show host or another. The
sanctified individual knows that God will place him where He needs him, direct
him where he must go, and set him about tasks that might seem beneath his
station to many a soul, but not to him because he knows he is living out his
obedience.

Just
as the Son cannot love what the Father abhors, we cannot love what God hates,
and hate what God loves. If sanctification has taken place in us, if we have
been transformed from within, then our preferences, the things we love, and the
things we gravitate towards will be the things of God.

From
time to time we mere mortals get a glimpse of one of our spiritual betters
spewing some inane foolishness, wholly against what the Word of God clearly
states, and we wonder to ourselves how one who is supposed to be sanctified can
utter such heresies. Well, I’ll let you draw your own conclusion, but, again, I
remind you that one cannot be diametrically opposed to the will of God, denying
His righteousness, and still be an obedient child of God.

Truly
sanctified sons and daughters of God do not pander to the world, they do not
sacrifice truth on the altar of compromise for the sake of inclusiveness, and
they do not diminish the holiness of God for the sake of the world’s
acceptance.

We
cannot defend the indefensible, nor can we continue to excuse those in our midst
who would do away with the Gospel altogether if they could. As per usual, I
know I will get some fan mail over this post, because every time I write
something with a bit of bite, the ‘love the sinner hate the sin’ crowd begins
their vocalizations. Just as an afterthought, that whole love the sinner hate
the sin thing, not in the Bible!

We love sinners
enough to tell them the truth. We want to see them saved, and reconciled unto God.
Letting them think that God’s perfectly fine with anything and everything as
long as we tithe every month is not love, and I’m tired of the word being
perverted by snake oil salesmen. With love in Christ,Michael Boldea Jr.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Flesh
loves the do nothing gospel. It revels in the idea that with minimal effort one
can ensure an eternity of paradise, and being flesh, it puts forth the least
possible amount of exertion it can.

Many
today are not intellectually curious. They do not ask ‘why’ anymore, simply
content with the status quo, and with being told that they’re ok, they’re
saved, they made it through, and they will stay there indefinitely if they
continue to fund the lifestyle to which their chosen wolf in sheep’s clothing has
become accustomed.

Contrary
to popular belief we are not saved and sanctified just for the sake of being
saved and sanctified. We are saved and sanctified for obedience. God calls us,
and cleanses us with the full and justified expectation of having an obedient
servant which He can use in the manner He sees fit.

We
are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification
of the Spirit for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Christ.

Why
would God be justified in His expectation for obedience one might ask? Granted,
those who would ask such a question have likely been feasting on a steady diet
of self-esteem smoothies, and self-empowerment shakes courtesy of one fool or
another, but if we looked in the mirror of the Word and saw our true nature as
it once was, and what God has made of us through the sprinkling of the blood of
Christ, we would evermore understand why God is justified in His expectation of
obedience.

The
butterfly was once a caterpillar, the new regenerate man, was once an old
degenerate one. In understanding what God did for us through Christ on Calvary,
we will never shy away from obedience, or consider our obedience a hard task.

Not
only were we elect to the foreknowledge of God the Father, we were likewise sanctified
of the Spirit.God sanctified us by His
Holy Spirit. This is a profound truth that few are willing to delve into
anymore because it’s just easier to tell people to raise their hand and repeat
a prayer.

It
is the Spirit that transforms us from sinner to saint; it is the Spirit that
works the work of regeneration in us once we have been sprinkled by the blood
of Christ. It is not a denomination or belonging to a certain church group, it
isn’t even being water baptized that transforms us, it is the Holy Spirit in us
doing the work the Father has commanded Him to do.

Although
marginalized of late, the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer
is indispensable, and we neglect and deny Him to our detriment. To hear some
preachers speak of the Holy Spirit one would consider His role minimal at best.
They speak of the Spirit and the work of the Spirit in the past tense more
often than not, attempting to convince the household of faith that the work the
Holy Spirit was to have done is already completed, and now we no longer have need
of His services because we have denominations and theological degrees.

I
don’t know about you but hearing what some denominations have been up to of
late, seeing how they are actively subverting the Gospel and denying the Word
of God, I’m somewhat leery if not altogether opposed to the idea of being
associated with any of them.

How
long before we ourselves are corrupted if we now cast our lot in with those who
deny the Christ? How long before we ourselves are become reprobate if by our
silence and continued belonging we are tacitly acquiescing to what these men
have done?

We
must get beyond the pigeonholes we’ve created for ourselves in our chosen
denominations, and see the glorious Gospel for all that it is, believing it
rather than the words of men, and holding it up as the final authority for the
doctrines we choose to embrace.

We
were sanctified for obedience. We were not sanctified to question God, we were
not sanctified to revise the Word, and we were not sanctified to make the faith
more palatable for the godless and the heathen. We were sanctified for
obedience, so all that is incumbent upon us to do is to obey.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

If
the game is rigged, if we already know what the score will be when the referee blows
the last whistle, then what’s the point of evangelizing, of preaching the
Gospel, of talking to others about Jesus, or a dozen other things we are
mandated to do via the Word of God?

Why
would Jesus tell us to go and preach the Gospel to the nations when it wouldn’t
make a difference either way? Those that are supposed to get in based on the list
will get in regardless; those that aren’t meant to get in won’t get in no
matter how much preaching they hear. When you boil it down and get to the root
of it, that is in fact what we are saying is it not?

Why
come together in fellowship, why go to church, why pray, why read the Bible,
why do anything to grow in God when God’s going to wave us on through anyway if
we were predestined?

If
you were predestined, then why pursue godliness, righteousness, holiness, or
humility?

Why
die to self and live for Him if it matters not how I live, what I do, and how I
spend my time?

Relax!
You’re going to heaven no matter what; why strive to enter through the narrow
gate?

By
the same token, if predestination were in fact a reality, you can live a
selfless life, be righteous and holy, and still not make it into heaven just because
God doesn’t like your face, or the way you chew your nails, the way you slurp
your coffee, or some other arbitrary thing.

2 Peter 3:9, “The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but
longsuffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance.”

Can
that verse really mean what it says? How can predestination be true if God is
not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance? Why
should they come to repentance to begin with if they were predestined for
heaven or hell and had no say in the matter anyway?

God
knew how you would end your journey on the earth before you drew your first
breath. Not because He forced you to end the journey in that way, or because He
manipulated you in some manner, but because He foreknew you and the decisions
you would make.

It
is based on this foreknowledge that one’s name is either written in the Book or
not written in the Book.

Otherwise,
God would be a cruel taskmaster indeed to save only a handful, if it were
within His purview to save all.

God
knows the end from the beginning, and it is in this according to this
foreknowledge that we are elect.

Men
have gone, and will continue to go to great lengths to shrug off personal
accountability and responsibility. They will butcher and twist the Gospel to
appease their own conscience, and pretend the Bible says something it does not
just to excuse their refusal to repent before an all knowing God.

Seriously,
can you imagine all the martyrs of old, those who were dipped in tar and lit
aflame during the time of the Roman purging, or those fed to the wild animals standing
before the throne of the Almighty and having half of them, or a quarter of
them, or even one of them be told that since they were not predestined, even
though they died martyrs’ deaths, they will not enter in?

1 Peter 1:1-2, “Peter
an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.”

Monday, July 7, 2014

And
here is where we get into the weeds. Here is when some of the more in-your-face
holders of the Calvinist doctrine will come out of the woodwork and call me a
heretic, one who is irredeemably reprobate, and one whose doctrine is evermore erroneous
to the utmost.

Why
would they do such a thing? Because I dare use the word ‘foreknowledge’ rather
than ‘predestination’ and I dare say as Peter did that we are elect according
to the foreknowledge of God, and not the predestination of God.

We
are elect not because of some arbitrary preference, not because God chose a
handful out of every generation to save and sentence all others to eternal
darkness, but because He foreknew those who would obtain salvation through
faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

God
doesn’t just say, ‘you I like, so no matter what you do, you’re golden. You
will make it to heaven even if I have to drag you there, and no matter how much
you resist, it’s still going to happen.’ By the same token He does not say, ‘you
I don’t like, so no matter how penitent, how righteous, how faithful, how true
you strive to be, or in fact are, the doors are closed, and there’s no way you’re
getting in. No matter how much you pray, you weep, you repent, you beg or you
plead, the answer is still no.’

This
is no small thing. We are not splitting hairs. This is not one of those issues
where we can agree to disagree, and I will tell you why.

If
God operated on predestination rather than foreknowledge, one would be in the
right to wonder until their final breath if they were on the special list, or
if they suffered and died in vain only to discover that they didn’t make the
cut, they didn’t get drafted, and all that remains is eternal darkness.

If
God did not operate based on foreknowledge, then not one of those who lived and
died for the name Jesus would have that blessed assurance that their death and
sacrifice was not in vain, but rather that the inheritance was waiting for them
beyond the veil.

What
if I suffer and it turns out I wasn’t chosen? What if I suffer and it turns out
I wasn’t predestined? What if I go through the most horrendous of torture and
loss, only to be told that my name didn’t show up anywhere on the guest list
and so, away with me?

We
can be intellectually dishonest at this juncture ant start putting up the straw
men we so lovingly tend to, such as ‘no one that isn’t truly saved would ever
suffer like that’, but the guys who walk into crowded market places and detonate
themselves aren’t saved, yet they make the ultimate sacrifice for a lie all the
same. So that argument falls by the wayside, that straw man burns in the flames
of truth.

Men
suffer every day for imaginings of their own making, and the empty promises of
dead or inexistent gods.

It
is in God’s foreknowledge that we are able to greatly rejoice in our
tribulations, because it is according to His foreknowledge that we are elect.

So
what is the difference between foreknowledge and predestination?

The
best way I can describe it, is that foreknowledge is someone knowing both where
you will be and how you will get there many years from now based on your own
choices, while predestination is someone knowing where you will be and how you
will get there many years from now because they will have forced you to keep to
a certain route whether or not you wanted to, chose to, or desired to.

Again,
this goes back to whether or not we believe that man is inherently evil from
the moment he is born, and I for one cannot come to that conclusion reasonably
or logically. Man is born fallen since Adam, but every man can be reconciled
unto God through repentance. Man has the ability to humble himself, to repent,
to seek forgiveness, and find it at the foot of the cross through Christ Jesus.
I do not believe men are simply born evil, wherein every action from the moment
they are born to the moment they die is geared only toward the darkest of evil
deeds. If this were so, the world would be a far darker place than it already is.

Friday, July 4, 2014

One
need only read Peter’s description of the inheritance reserved in heaven for
the faithful to understand longing. To Peter the promise of the inheritance was
not some intellectual exercise or some idea he never seemed to fully grasp, but
a reality as certain as the face he touched every morning upon washing it.

The
reality of heaven, the reality of our inheritance, the certainty that it
awaits, kept incorruptible and undefiled, ought to produce a longing for our
true home in our hearts unmatched heretofore by any other longing we might have
experienced along the way.

It
is a glorious thing to live each day with the certainty of inheritance. It is a
glorious thing to live each day knowing that God Himself is the keeper of said inheritance,
and that He will be faithful to deliver it to those He has saved and sanctified
unto Himself.

Your
deepest longing reveals your truest self. What is it you long for? Is it to see
the place Christ went to prepare for us so long ago? Is it to be in His
presence, and bask in His glory, and forevermore know the purest of love and
joy?

What
do you long for? Simple question when you think about it. When all the
pretense, and squirming is done with, when all the facades and self-righteous
one liners have run their course, when we’ve said ‘God knows my heart’ one too
many times, we are confronted with this question once more: what do you long
for?

It
is a question only I can answer honestly about myself, and one only you can
answer honestly about yourself.

If
heaven is your longing, if the inheritance is your longing, then the passion
for the things of God will be self-evident in all you do. I have a friend whose
lifelong dream was to build his own house. For as long as he could remember he’s
had this home in his head. He knows exactly where everything goes, from
kitchen, to bathroom, to bedroom, to sinks, fixtures, and even drapes, and in
his mind it is perfect in every way.

If
you get him started he’ll talk about his home for hours, even though he’s only
scraped together enough money to build the foundation and nothing more.

In
his mind, his home is already built. He sees is when he closes his eyes, and
works joyfully towards it even though what he does is backbreaking work.

Do
you see your inheritance when you close your eyes? Do you see what God has
prepared, and reserved for you exclusively every time you meditate upon the
desire of your heart?

It
is an easy thing to say we want heaven. Who wouldn’t?

The
question that must be asked isn’t so much if we want heaven but rather if we are
willing to pay the price, after having counted the cost, in order to attain
heaven?

Make
no mistake, there is a cost, there is a sacrifice, there is something you will
have to part with, something you will have to surrender, something you will
have to sacrifice, and knowing the reality of the inheritance that awaits, you
will do so joyfully.

Though
now for a little while, if need be, we have been grieved by various trials, it
ought not to affect us negatively knowing what we know about our inheritance.

We greatly rejoice in
the face of persecution, hardship, and even death because we know with absolute
certainty that God will give to each one according to their work, and the
longing for our eternal home keeps us pressing ever onward towards that prize. With love in Christ,Michael Boldea Jr.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

If
the day has not as yet come, it will shortly. Sooner or later others will do
their utmost to cause you to doubt who you are, and more importantly who you
are in Christ. They will be vicious, they will be cruel, they will be merciless,
they will call you things you know yourself not to be, but they will do it so
often, and with such authority that eventually you will wonder if only to
yourself if what they are saying about you really is true.

Am
I really a fanatic? Am I really a zealot? Am I really unloving and intolerant?
Am I really a brutish beast who cannot see progress for what it is? Am I really
a bigot? Am I really of below average intelligence because I believe the Bible?

If
your identity is not certain, if you have not established both in your heart
and mind that you are an elect son or daughter of God, that a price has been
paid for you, and that price was no less than the blood of God’s only begotten
Son, the constant droning of the godless as to who they think you are will get
through, and you will grow silent.

That
is, after all, what the enemy wants. He just wants you silent! He just wants
you to doubt your faith, your position, your convictions, and your stance
enough to keep you from speaking out, to keep you from standing on the truth,
to keep you from pushing back the darkness as it threatens to overwhelm
everything.

To
the godless silence is just as good as acquiescence or validation. They really
don’t care as long as they have no opposition to their agenda, as long as they
can do as the will when they will with mindless fools praising their insanity
as though it were the epitome of illumination.

This
is not a new tactic. This is not something the enemy thought up recently, but
it is a tactic that works far better in our time and among our generation than
it ever did among the primary church.

Keep
in mind that those who came before us were faced with either the same or far
harsher opposition than ourselves. All the tactics the enemy uses against the household
of faith today he used two thousand years ago, and though the number was not
high by any standard, there are historical records of those who gave in, who
began to doubt their identity, and who finally relented, denying the Christ,
and saving their flesh for a season.

What
harm could come of saying ‘Caesar is lord’ if you don’t really mean it? What
harm could come of pretending you don’t know Jesus until you get out of the
scrape you’re in, and they leave you alone?

What
harm can come of calling light darkness, sin righteousness, and things God
abhors, things He embraces? What harm? We are after all supposed to be wise as
serpents are we not? Why pick a fight we know we can’t win? Why stand in the
gap when it’s so much easier to go with the flow and make apologies for the
Word of God, and try to explain away the character of God as though it were not
so?

In
our diluted, spineless generation utterly void of character, compromise has
become a viable option, and men will sell out their own blood, and even sell
their souls if it meant being spared trials and tribulations.

The
vile and perverted are not ashamed of their nature or identity, why are the
sons and daughter of God? The sinful and those wallowing in darkness are not
reticent to share who they are and what they do boasting of their nihilistic
pretenses, why are the sons and daughters of God so reticent to share the light
of Christ?

No
matter what we must stand. No matter what we must shine. No matter what we must
speak the truth, for only truth sets men free that they might come to know the
grace and glory of the God who was, and is, and is to come.

No
matter what the world might say, no matter what the world might do, we know who
we are, we know our Redeemer lives, and we know He is soon returning for a
spotless bride. Come quickly Lord Jesus!